Sunday, May 6

1/35 Hetzer masks in two schemes from J's Work reviewed

J's work have already come out with some great masking
solutions with their masking set for the F-16 in Israeli service which
we reviewed last week – now comes the time to have a look at the masks
for the complicated camo for the Hetzer 38T tank which until recently has been
a modeller’s nightmare to paint – let’s have a look to see if these ease the
pain for us..

The
Hetzer 38T tank destroyer employed by the Germans during late World War II has
been a popular subject for modellers because of its futuristic look and small
size. The painting of the tank however leaves many perplexed – the three tone
camo is very hard edged and often after that speckled with funny shaped dots
which look all too much like “a guy using a paintbrush” at the end of the
process.

Normally labelled under "Hard Work" this can be a tricky scheme to replicate

J’s work
– under their banner of “Modelling Solution” have come up with some neat little
things to make your modelling life easier – first the F-16
masking solution, and now this – in a very similar format for this tiny
tank. The armour guys have had this for a while now – and I painted a Hetzer
with Vinyl masks just last month in fact – but this kit seems to have a few
extra bits added - so we will look more at the contents.

Both masks here are similar in packaging - the 5001 mask has less rounded edged camo + splinter blotch masks while the 5002 package has more rounded edges

The
masking kit comes safely in a plastic re-sealable A4 bag that houses a full
sheet of instructions and the laser cut Kabuki masks which we are pretty
accustomed to in the industry. These are pretty much the same as Tamiya tape
which most modellers will be familiar with. Unlike Vinyl, this stuff should
adhere to the model a bit tighter. The Hetzer has many little lumps and bumps
and equipment stowed outside the vehicle. You will have to paint these
separately, both of these sets contain the side “Schurtzen” and wheel masks so
you can paint your wheels with no overspray. Later on we will discuss the
method but we will look at the contents first.

There are
two different schemes represented here – ill take you through them
individually.

This set
is fairly similar to the second in colours but the pattern is a different
marking style – much more of a "splinter" or straighter style camouflage here is offset by the “ambush”
dotted shapes with the mask included in laser cut hard card.

Some well known images here of just this scheme

This “ambush”
dotted scheme was used to simulate light from leaves spotting down between
trees. Especially from above where the allied dominated the skies and adding to
the fact that the German tank destroyers were set up in a camouflaged static
position made this camo pretty effective in its purpose.

Like the
first scheme you have the masks of the whole vehicle including schurtzen and
the MG mounts and appendages of the vehicle, and excellent instruction set in
full colour and the inclusion of the mask for the dotted spots is an addition
that you would otherwise pay a lot more for with a photo-etched mask. These
masks are the total package really – all you need is paint.

This mask looks to be re-usable if treated right - it may save you money on buying a P/E mask in the future if you look after it

This is
the more-straight forward of the two mask sets in that you do not have to paint
the little dots all over the kit for the “ambush” effect. The three tone camo
of Red brown/ Dark Yellow/ Dark Green are all represented here on the full
colour instructions.

The
instructions are pretty clear and take you through step-by-step with coloured
pictures to show you exactly what to do and when to do it - they are a little on the confusing side if you haven’t
done this before so as well as the instructions I have gone through it at the
end of this review.

The well
appreciated inclusion of the masks for the wheels and the clearly marked
options of which colour to apply first and where to put it are a great bonus
to this set. You may need to include liquid masking and some more kabuki tape
from your stash but I don’t think you will need them with this mask set.

The only thing I think is actually not as it should be on this kit is the Wheel masks are maybe one or two Millimetres too wide in circumference - I applied them to my Hetzer wheel and found to rectify this I simply folded them over where the gap was - a quick fix that shouldn't be a bother. I tested this to see if i had somehow stretched the mask in application by re-applying it to the kabuki sheet and it fit perfectly - so I guess for my 1/35th scale Hetzer this wheel mask is just a little large - but like I said an easy fix.

Steps
to applying the Hetzer camo masks...1. J's Work have made it simple to apply these masks by putting “B”
“S” and “G” for the brown, sand and green colours so you don’t get them mixed
up (I wrote these on a mask set I used recently actually for just the same
reason!) This usually starts with a lighter shade as your base colour, in
this case the lighter sand colour first - spray this all over the model. It is
easier to apply darker colours over light colours and not the reverse.2. The first mask application - in the instructions it is
clear you are advised that you apply the masking with the colour marked with a
star emblem first. This is the mask that applies over the sand colour to hide
it from the next colour laid down - the brown colour3. Apply the second mask the "G" mask on to that only the
areas exposed are to be painted green. - then spray the green on the
modelExtra tips - To make sure you don't have any overspray apply some
liquid masking if there are gaps between the camo layers.4. Simply gently peel off the masks and there you have a perfectly
demarcated camouflage Hetzer tank destroyer

The fact
that these are marked with which mask should go down first is good, although
the improvement I would make to this masking set/s is to just write a 1 – 2 and
3 on each of the colours – it will make things simpler and everyone understands
numbers!!

As with
the F-16 masks these are a great job and I look forward to seeing the Kingtiger
masks which are coming up - We can’t wait to see the next set of
"Modelling Solutions" from J's
Work – keep it up!!